Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Dredd Essay

Dredd is a UK film released in 2012 and was directed by Pete Travis that had a budget of $45 million and only made $36.5 million at box office. It was distributed by Entertainment Films and Lionsgate, the studios were DNA Films, IM Global and Reliance Entertainment and it was filmed in the UK and South Africa. The 2012 film was based on an old American film released in 1995, starring Sylvester Stallone, called 'Judge Dredd', which was based on an older graphic novel released in 1977 called 'Judge Dredd' also and was written by John Wagner. The graphic novel was UK released but the film was a US film. The US film adaptation 'Judge Dredd failed because no one in America knew what it was and the only reason why people went to watch it was because Sylvester Stallone was in it who was widely known across the whole of the US. Dredd is a UK attempt to revive the film after the failure it had In America and the producers were hoping to have a more positive feed back because it was a UK production in the first place.There was a lot of marketing for this film. Things like a UK and US trailer, posters and in august 2012, a viral advertising site "Dredd Report" was launched, satirising the Drudge Report. The site featured a video condemning the use of Slo-Mo, and links to news about the film.Dredd failed in UK box office and did not bring in much money, success, fame or popularity. The producers of Dredd tried to make the film a UK blockbuster but it didn't work for many reasons. First off, the film was a British film with a British director and producers. But, the film was based in America which made the film not appealing to a British audience because its not their country and its not the way they live and know. Also, because the director was British he couldn't concept a good idea of what America was like and wasn't able to capture the country the same way as an American would. As well as that, the cast was not predominantly British it was mainly foreign and also there were no A-List stars so no one knew any of the actors and the audience didn't appeal to them because they were not British. At the same time as 'Dredd' was coming out America was also bringing out some big blockbusters so it had no match to the US films that were coming out so no one wanted to see it because it was no match to the US. But, the film was made to compete with the US but couldn't work because it already had a bad reputation because of the 1995 release of 'Judge Dredd' so no one in the US was going to watch it anyway.The main character in Dredd is meant to be seen as some sort of super hero. But, the problem with that is that there are many other, larger and more well known, superhero's out there made and produced by bigger companies. For Example, there are two main big companies; DC Comics created Batman and Superman and Marvel Comics that created Spiderman and all The Avenges. So, there is no way that this film could take over any of these because they are so big and well known everyone would rather see a film by one of them instead of a minor company with a super hero that has a bad reputation or people do not know about. Also, all of these films are either PG or 12A so it can appeal to a much wider audience because the age range is increased, but, Dredd was an 18 so not many people would be able to watch it or want to watch it because super heroes appeal more to the younger generations rather than the older ones.The use of CGI in the film is very poor. The film was mainly shot in South Africa because it was cheap and because it was cheap it meant they could spend more on the CGI. The director and producers of the film tried to make the CGI as good as they possibly could so they spent all of their money on the CGI instead of the actual film. There are parts in the film where when the character takes a drug called 'Slo-mo' which makes it seem for them that time is moving extremely slowly. To create this effect they needed Red X cameras and it cost a lot of their budget and they made the film in 3D because that's what they thought people wanted to see. because the film was so widely spread in 3D and there weren't many places you could watch the film in 2D not many people went to watch the film because they either didn't like 3D or just didn't want to watch the film in 3D and didn't want to travel so far just to watch it in 2D. There were only 29 screens, in the UK, you could watch the film in 2D in and they were only in the main cities and only in one screen in one cinema and limited screen times. This discouraged people to go and watch it because they were un able to watch the film the way the wanted, in 2D.Dredd was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download on 8 January 2013 in North America, and 14 January in the UK.The Blu-ray edition contains the 2D and 3D versions of the film and a digital copy. The DVD and Blu-ray editions contain seven featurettes: "Mega-City Masters: 35 Years of Judge Dredd", "Day of Chaos: The Visual Effects of Dredd 3D", "Dredd", "Dredd's Gear", "The 3rd Dimension", "Welcome to Peachtrees", and a "Dredd Motion Comic Prequel" narrated by Urban During its first week on sale in the UK, Dredd was the number 1 selling DVD and Blu-ray.During the week of its release in North America, it was the number 1 selling DVD and Blu-ray with approximately 650,000 units sold, and Blu-ray units accounting for nearly 50% of that figure. It was also the best-selling digital download for that period. Sales spiked in the United Kingdom in June 2013, following a reported rumour that it could influence DNA Films' decision to pursue a sequel. By September 2013, Dredd was estimated to have earned approximately $10 million in home media sales in North America, while in the UK it marked over 270 days in online-retailer Amazon's top 100 selling home media.

1 comment:

Very good intro which contextualises the film. It would be worth including what you believe constitues success. Is it purely financial (and is the relative), is it critical or is it both?

Try to keep the marketing out of your intro and also consider how and why we target audiences. Try to also be specific with your terminology for audiences (look on my blog for terms).

Slow down in paragraph two. You say a lot of things but never pause to prove any of them. Proof can come in the form of key scenes from the film or critical reaction to the film (you cannot just say it wasn't good because we dont know America, after all the film was shot in SA!)

Mix your point about lacl of appeal to US audiences with points about DC and Marvel, these should really be in the same paragraph. Avoid phrases like bad reputation, say 'poor critical reaction' instead.

Well done on your specifics for screens with 2D v 3D, you should try and include distribution patterns in this section. Well done for including details on BluRay, does this surge in BluRay show the film was popular but just not at the cinema where people didnt want to watch it because it was in 3D.

You also need a conclusion to your essay, remember to predict the future in light of Dredd's performance.

You also need to include far more information on the US, the BIG SIX and a specific film to compare Dredd to.